Housing in Ivory Park : a critical assessment

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Housing in Ivory Park : a critical assessment

Mmakola, Monepo David

2000-03

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study assessed the performance of South Africa's Housing Policy in Ivory Park, an informal settlement in Midrand. The study used effectiveness, efficiency, equity, responsiveness and affordability, as criteria for assessment. Research was carried out using a literature review; and face-to-face interviews with officials from the Midrand Metropolitan Local Council, and the residents of Ivory Park who had already moved into the newly built houses. The study found that the performance of the policy in Ivory Park is mixed. From the point of view of effectiveness, the policy has had a positive impact on the lives of beneficiaries. The bigger picture of housing delivery, and the way the policy is being assessed by other spheres of government however, has reduced assessment of the policy to the numbers of housing built, and not taken sufficient consideration of the value of other elements of the policy. The greatest efficiency drawback has been the speed of implementation. The policy is moving at a relatively slow pace. The distribution of the resources of the policy has been equitable, in that the unemployed and households with irregular incomes have been reached by the housing policy. However, there have been difficulties in stimulating the local materials supply industries in the area, but efforts have gone into activating that part. The policy has been responsive, and beneficiaries are satisfied with the role played by the local authority, community organisations and contractors involved in housing delivery. Although the new houses built have not themselves adversely affected the cost of living of beneficiaries, the poverty level in the area, would continue to make services such as housing, unaffordable to households. The study recommends that in future, there be increased consultations with intended beneficiaries of a housing policy, in order to align the views of policymakers with those of beneficiaries. There is also a need to develop indicators that take into account all the objectives government pursues in the housing sector. The local authority should also track ownership of the built houses, to ensure that any change in ownership does not compromise the welfare of beneficiaries, and lead to the subsidisation of housing acquisitions of well-off households. Housing polices should have a more economic development slant, as the new services coming with housing would not have a greater impact in situations of persistent poverty.